Chapter 1 I Just Want to Forge

Luka Toni's suspension was finally over, and he was able to play in this match. He wanted to score goals in this crucial semi-final to help the team achieve success and advance to the UEFA Cup final.

However, more than twenty minutes into the game, he hadn't had any decent scoring opportunities.

Klose, his attacking partner in this match, was just as frustrated.

Both forwards had no chance to shoot. All of this was because...Zenit Saint Petersburg's attack was too fierce!

For these twenty-odd minutes, Zenit had been bombarding Bayern Munich's penalty area almost the entire time!

"...I'm reminded of the previous match, when Bayern Munich besieged our penalty area. That period was pure torment for Zenit fans!" Shirgayevski said. "Now everything is reversed, and I believe it's also torment for Bayern Munich fans! Haha!"

He was right. Bayern Munich fans were indeed very nervous, fearing that their team would concede another goal.

Conceding a goal at the start of the match was bad enough, but what was even worse was what followed. Bayern Munich couldn't mount any decent attacks, and their offense was suppressed.

For a while, Bayern Munich couldn't even get the ball past midfield.

This scene surprised the German TV commentators because they had never seen Zenit Saint Petersburg like this.

In his opinion, this didn't look like a Russian league team at all. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were a Bundesliga team.

Their tactical discipline was strict, their overall pace was fast, and they had a striker with great impact in the front. He originally thought that Zenit's strength would be greatly reduced after Arshavin left, but now it seemed that with Chen Hero around, their strength hadn't been affected too much.

In a box at the Petrovsky Stadium, a man was watching the game with a smile on his face.

He was Aurelio De Laurentiis, the owner of Napoli. He had come specifically to observe Chen Hero up close. Although he had personally negotiated Chen Hero's transfer, he had only seen his highlight reels and hadn't watched him play live. Highlight reels can be very deceptive, as they concentrate a player's strengths while ignoring their weaknesses. So, to know a player's true ability, you have to watch him play.

Although he had only watched twenty minutes of the game, a smile had already appeared on his face. Especially the goal he scored, it was just too domineering!

De Laurentiis liked this kind of goal. As a striker, you had to have this kind of presence. He wasn't at a disadvantage at all against three world-class players like Lucio, Demichelis, and van Bommel.

This one goal alone was enough to make De Laurentiis not regret signing him.

※※※

Chen Hero didn't know that his new boss was observing him in the box. He was still chasing goals.

A one-goal lead wasn't safe enough. Bayern Munich's attacking power was also very strong, and it wouldn't be too difficult for them to score a goal.

So he had to try to score again, score more goals, widen the gap in the aggregate score, and completely extinguish Bayern Munich's hopes of catching up, killing the suspense of the match early.

For neutral fans, a good game is one where both teams are evenly matched, scoring one goal each in a thrilling and intense contest. But for the participants, they don't think that way. They all hope that their team will secure the victory early, making the rest of the match boring.

Right now, that was what Chen Hero was pursuing.

Zenit's momentum was strong now, and he had several chances. He knew that Bayern Munich would try to contain him in every possible way, so he had to seize the time.

Now Bayern Munich seemed chaotic due to conceding an early goal. Their defense wasn't in place, and their attack couldn't get going. Some people wanted to attack, and some people wanted to defend. Their minds weren't unified.

All kinds of problems had arisen, and it depended on whether he could seize them!

But no matter what Bayern Munich did, the defensive pressure he faced didn't ease up much. Because he was always being "cared for" by two center backs. Lucio and Demichelis were closely guarding him—they weren't worried about missing anyone. In front of the goal, Chen Hero was the only real threat for Zenit, as for the others… they weren't worth worrying about!

There was also Arshavin before, but now Arshavin was suspended due to a yellow card, so they didn't have to worry about him.

It would be difficult to beat these two center backs with headers. Chen Hero had experienced it in the first leg of the match, especially Lucio, whose physical condition was extremely good. A height of 1.88 meters and a weight of 84 kilograms. With him around, he would have to work harder.

If it weren't for him, Chen Hero felt that he would have already crushed Demichelis.

But today, even with Lucio, he was going to crush you all!

※※※

Chen Hero ran to the edge of the penalty area and raised his hand for the ball.

Dominguez sent a diagonal pass to him, then continued to advance, hoping to do a one-two with Chen Hero.

Jansen retreated, always watching Dominguez. He completely ignored Chen Hero.

At this time, Chen Hero was being marked by Demichelis, while Lucio was in a slightly deeper position, forming a depth, so that it wouldn't be easy for the opponent to break through.

Chen Hero used the same tactic he used against Sané to deal with Demichelis.

As soon as he leaned on him, he keenly noticed the difference between Demichelis and Sané—this Argentine was much weaker than Loric Sané, who was known as the "Marseille Killing Machine"!

Sané was 1.86 meters tall and weighed 86 kilograms, which was considered quite strong.

And Demichelis? 1.84 meters tall and 78 kilograms in weight, a level lower…

So Chen Hero suddenly leaned back, and Demichelis, caught off guard, fell directly on his butt, lying on his back…

The referee's whistle blew: "Foul!"

Chen Hero didn't defend himself and ran back.

Although he fouled this time, he also tested Demichelis's physique as a result—he didn't have much chance to do so in the previous match, because Bayern Munich was pressing them for most of the time. Even if he went up, he rarely had the opportunity to post up Demichelis.

This discovery made him very happy—with your small frame, you still want to compete with me?

Next time, I'll make you a tragedy!

※※※

Chen Hero ran back and went straight to Dominguez, telling him his discovery.

"That Argentine is weak!" he said. "I just leaned on him, and he fell. Next time, we'll keep playing like this!"

Dominguez had black lines on his head—I'm Argentine too! Can't you just say the name! But he still had to nod: "Okay, I know what to do."

Chen Hero patted Dominguez on the shoulder and ran away.

On the other side, Demichelis was explaining the matter to his partner Lucio with an embarrassed face: "I wasn't prepared at all, he just bumped into me like that, and my center of gravity was unstable…"

Lucio nodded: "I know, I know, you have to be careful next time. That kid's strength is very strong!"

"Next time, I'll definitely let him know how powerful I am!" He fell so easily in front of his teammates and so many spectators, and he even heard laughter from the stands when he fell—the Zenit fans obviously thought he fell too easily. This made Demichelis lose face, and he couldn't swallow this!

In fact, outsiders would think how easily Demichelis fell, thinking that Chen Hero's lean didn't look like it had any strength, so how did the person fall?

Lucio didn't laugh at his partner, because he knew how strong Chen Hero was. A lean that looked simple and casual might be a collision in which he used all his strength. Having experienced it himself, he didn't dare to underestimate Chen Hero physically.

※※※

Everyone was looking forward to the next time.

Chen Hero was waiting for the next time to make Demichelis a tragedy, and Demichelis was also waiting for the next time to let Chen Hero see his power and get back the face he had lost.

The Zenit fans in the stands were also waiting for the next time. They wanted to see Demichelis fall to the ground in a mess, and they wanted to see Chen Hero squeeze the opponent away and then turn around and shoot to score.

So when Chen Hero ran to the edge of the penalty area again and raised his hand high, even though no opportunity had yet been created, the Zenit Saint Petersburg fans in the stands couldn't wait to let out huge cheers.

Dominguez obviously knew what everyone was expecting, so he passed the ball diagonally in accordance with public opinion.

The ball landed at Chen Hero's feet.

The Zenit fans in the stands started to clamor loudly: "Hit him! Hit him! Knock him over!!"

Chen Hero, as they had expected, stepped on the ball and leaned back hard.

This time, Demichelis didn't fall to the ground. He was prepared, and his body swayed, withstanding Chen Hero's collision!

This time it was the Bayern Munich fans' turn to cheer.

Chen Hero was stunned for a moment, not expecting that this Demichelis had some skills.

Just as he was in a daze, van Bommel rushed up, intending to tackle the ball at Chen Hero's feet together with Demichelis. He could see that all of Chen Hero's energy was focused on dealing with Demichelis, lacking vigilance against him.

He didn't expect that Chen Hero had been practicing these things in the instance every day. His body had almost become a conditioned reflex. He didn't even look at van Bommel, and his feet had already moved.

He quickly pulled the ball back, while leaning his body back and bumping into Demichelis, who was trying to tackle, forcing him to retreat honestly.

But Chen Hero's crisis hadn't been resolved. Because van Bommel wasn't a rookie who put all his bets on this one tackle. When the first tackle failed, he immediately followed up. This time, his whole body was almost stuck to Chen Hero, not letting him get rid of him.

Since the first tackle didn't get the ball, then I'll just lean on him. There's always a chance to get the ball. Even if I don't get it, I can greatly interfere with your ball control, so you don't have a chance to turn around and shoot, or cooperate with your teammates.

It has to be said that van Bommel, who had won the Champions League, was indeed much more experienced than that M'Bami from Marseille…

In this way, Chen Hero became a true sandwich, with van Bommel sticking to him in front and Demichelis sticking to him behind.

These two people, who had been knocked away by him on the left and right in the corner kick, leaned back up, seemingly intending to take revenge.

Chen Hero was immediately trapped in a quagmire, unable to move!

Demichelis, who was using his whole body and hands to withstand Chen Hero's impact, muttered Spanish that Chen Hero couldn't understand behind him.

"Don't fucking think I'm easy to bully, you… bastard!"